Lennox Lewis doesn’t view his controversial draw against Evander Holyfield on March 13 at the Garden as a complete waste of time despite its disappointing outcome. The Englishman’s impressive performance in a fight most feel he won has earned him more respect in the U.S., sending him into the Nov. 13 rematch in Las Vegas with more credibility as well as confidence.

“People hadn’t seen me against someone who they deemed the best in the world,” Lewis said yesterday during a press conference at his training center at the Poconos.

“Now all of sudden, they’ve seen me against somebody they see as the best and I basically manhandled him. In that sense, they’ve given me more respect.”

All Lewis (34-1-1 with 27 knockouts) wants now is to be the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, a title he’ll earn if he can beat Holyfield (26-3-1, 25 KOs) in their scheduled 12-rounder at the Thomas & Mack Center.

A carbon copy of his first fight with Holyfield wouldn’t be bad strategy. Lewis, who is at least three inches taller than Holyfield, used his seven-inch-reach advantage to keep the fight from becoming a brawl. Lewis peppered Holyfield with jabs and combinations, seemingly piling up enough points to win the decision. Wrong.

When the verdict was a draw, most were shocked and a formal inquiry was held. “Anywhere I go nobody has told me that I lost that fight,” Lewis said. “A lot of people tell me, ‘This time knock him out.’ They were upset about the judging.”

Still, Lewis plans on being much more aggressive in this fight, vowing to do all he can eliminate any chance of another bad decision. He plans to use a lot more body attack, more movement and more combinations. “In this fight, I’m looking to step up the pace a lot more,” he said. “They say, ‘Evander Holyfield always fights his second fight better,’ and they never speak about me. But that’s good because I want to surprise the whole world when they see it. I’ve got a habit of fighting my second fights better. I’ll surprise a lot of people when they see it.”

Lewis, who was basically looking to outbox Holyfield for 12 rounds in the first fight, will do a little head-hunting this time around. “My preference is to knock him out,” he said. “That would be my perfect fight But every boxer knows that if you go in there looking for the knockout, it doesn’t usually come. Hopefully, I’ll get a knockout. I just have do everything I can to make the fight and decision go my way.”

In many ways, Lewis sees himself as the savior of boxing, which has been scarred by several controversial conclusions. First there was the Holyfield-Lewis draw, then the Oscar De La Hoya-Felix Trinidad fight was less than expected. And last Saturday, Mike Tyson’s comeback against Orlin Norris was called a no-contest after one round.

With this being the last big fight of the century, Lewis is hoping to establish himself as the class of his division as well as his sport. “To end up this year and start the millennium as the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, that’s my dream,” he said. “It’s unfortunate the bad reviews (boxing) has been getting lately, but hopefully I can change that against Evander Holyfield.

“I feel I’m the best heavyweight in the world right now,” he said. “I’m sure there will be a lot of young heavyweights calling out my name, especially after this fight. But my main goal is the make a mark, create a legacy and go down in history. That’s what I’m trying to accomplish.”